Chapter 6.1

Return to the bride’s home?

Huo Wujiu exterminated the emperor’s country, and the latter killed Huo Wujiu’s father. They were already at odds and ends, so how could he claim that they were Huo Wujiu’s family?

He said it was returning to the bride’s home, but his unabashed tone clearly showed his desire to find an excuse to taunt and humiliate Huo Wujiu.

With his knowledge of thousands of years of history, Jiang Suizhou also had some understanding of this fatuous ruler.

The Hou Zhu, as stupid as he was, certainly couldn’t have come up with this humiliating trick to force Huo Wujiu back to his maternal home.

Jiang Suizhou caught the look shared between the Emperor and Pang Shao.

Nine out of ten, it was Pang Shao who was in cahoots with the Hou Zhu. The latter wanted to take Huo Wujiu out, and Pang Shao wanted to please him, so Pang Shao must have come up with this idea for him.

The two of them hit it off immediately. They would each happily obtain their desires. He, on the other hand, would end up suffering.

Regardless of who wanted to humiliate Huo Wujiu, in Huo Wujiu’s perspective, he, Jiang Suizhou, and they were jackals of the same lair. 

Jiang Suizhou didn’t want to drive someone to their death. He could turn a blind eye to it, but he didn’t want to use his own head as a bargaining chip.

Jiang Suizhou gritted his teeth.

He had to refuse for Huo Wujiu, and he had to come up with a sound reason.

He paused, and his exquisite, almost lush face showed tinges of revulsion and embarrassment.

“Brother Emperor, that’s unnecessary.” He lowered his eyes, his slender eyelashes blocking the emotions in his eyes and aptly posing a gesture of refusal. “A cripple is hardly presentable and would only provoke Brother Emperor’s disgust.”

He spoke slowly, exhibiting his disgust between the lines.

Jiang Suizhou wove his words beautifully, and each word was seemingly in consideration for the latter. However, the people around him knew when they heard him that he himself was disgraced in saying these words. 

Of course, he was also a Prince of the country. The mere thought of entering the palace with a prisoner of war “to return to the bridal home” was too funny and too humiliating.

Many courtiers had a look of schadenfreude on their faces.

And when the Emperor heard this, he became even more spirited.

“What? Are you unwilling to bring him out? Fifth Brother, you’ve only been with him in the bridal chamber last night. How come you are so heartless today?”

When Jiang Suizhou heard his loony tone, he was inevitably disgusted, but he had to continue acting.

He paused, as if totally embarrassed that he had been intimate with the other party. After a while, he lowered his voice and said, “Brother Emperor, this is different.”

The Hou Zhu dissolved into laughter, and a cheerful atmosphere permeated the entire courtroom.

Pang Shao cleared his throat again.

The Hou Zhu glanced at him and saw Pang Shao winking at him from below, reminding him of the plan.

Long before the court session, his uncle told him that he could severely humiliate Jiang Suizhou by proposing to let Huo Wujiu return to his maternal home. That idea was fine. However, it was paramount to use this matter as a bargaining chip in exchange for the goodies in Jiang Suizhou’s hands.

Although he was not interested in whatever good things Jiang Suizhou had in his hands, he was ultimately delighted in the act of snatching things away from him.

Even if he was now no longer the poor First Prince who was ignored by his father and could only watch how loved Jiang Suizhou was, even if he was now the Emperor, his hobbies remained unchanged.

He cleared his throat, shifted into a more comfortable sitting position, raised his leg and stepped on the throne floor cushion.

“All right, since Fifth Brother is reluctant and wants to hide your wife in a golden house, I will not force you.” He stretched his voice and smiled. “But then, since you want to hide your beauty, you’ve got to give something in exchange. Don’t you think so?”

Jiang Suizhou frowned.

Sure enough, he had guessed right. Pang Shao was behind the Hou Zhu’s evil tricks. Since he had made the Hou Zhu happy, Pang Shao naturally wouldn’t be without payment. If the Hou Zhu didn’t plan on giving this remuneration to him, then Pang Shao would obtain it himself.

But…He seemed to be merely an idle Prince with an idle post. What was worth their scheming?

Jiang Suizhou paused and tentatively answered, “Brother Emperor, please enlighten me.”

The Hou Zhu cleared his throat.

“I have thought about it. If I want to build an ancestral hall in the palace, the Ministry of Works should do it, not the Ministry of Rites. It just so happens that Luan Zhaoyi has been begging me these days, wanting her father to come and share your burdens. Fifth Brother, no matter what, we can’t let the beauty be sad, right?”

Jiang Suizhou’s brow jumped.

Oh, I see.

During the reign of Emperor Jing You of Southern Jing, the corruption of the court reached its peak when Pang Shao was in power. Officials have been corrupt since ancient times, and construction projects were the easiest way to launder money. The largest ill-gotten fortunes were certainly from the construction of palaces.

For this reason, Pang Shao would let the Emperor build a palace whenever he made a fuss about building a new one. In any case, when a palace was built, the money would flow from the national treasury to his own pockets.

At present, the renovations of the palace must still be underway, so Pang Shao was coveting this lucrative job. Nevertheless…Jiang Suizhou didn’t quite understand how such an obvious piece of fat meat fell into his hands.

He did not say anything for a while, his eyes roamed around the assembly room.

Some people remained calm and composed as they watched the show, while others were cold-faced and silent. A few officials looked nervous, glancing straight at him.

Under the turbulent dark tide, there were clear distinctions, as if there were two factions in the dark.

A terrible conjecture suddenly sprouted in Jiang Suizhou’s heart.

From this situation…It seemed that he also had some hidden power in the court. It was those people who found ways to stuff this errand into his hands.

Join our Discord server for the latest news and announcement.